Strom Thurmond, Father of The Modern Republican Party

From the Moonie Times:

Few politicians played as a pivotal a role as Mr. Thurmond in the political realignment of the South � which, until the early 1960s, had been one-party, Democratic territory. Mr. Thurmond changed this in 1964, when the Dixiecrat joined the Republican Party and campaigned for GOP nominee Barry Goldwater. South Carolina was one of just six states carried by Mr. Goldwater that year. But that was only the beginning of the Republican ascendancy in the South and Mr. Thurmond's rising star in the Republican Party. In 1968, he helped Richard Nixon win the Republican nomination and stave off a tough challenge from American Independent Party candidate George Wallace. Thirty-two years later, Mr. Thurmond helped George W. Bush fend off a tough challenge from fellow Republican John McCain in the South Carolina primary.

The obitorial also recounts, with no evident disgust, that "[d]uring his first 16 years, he stood like a stonewall against civil rights legislation." And the most significant word describing Strom's legacy is missing from article. Wes and Robt. Stacy will be lighting a cross in memory of Strom.